[fogger1138]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lody

Couple of issues here. The seller is responsible for adding insurance, not the buyer. If you want the items to be insured, you have to include that in the shipping costs. It can not be "optional." You are not allowed to say that you are not responsible for package once it leaves your possession, hence the need for insurance.

When did this change? Insurance could be made an optional part of shipping for YEARS on eBay.

[roboticplanet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fogger1138

When did this change? Insurance could be made an optional part of shipping for YEARS on eBay.

Not allowing optional insurance in auctions changed in 2009 (eBay Seller Update: July 2009), but Paypal's buyer protection has always been in place, insuring any purchase regardless of added postal carrier insurance.

eBay disallowed offering optional insurance to make this more clear. You won't find the field in the auction wizard nor TurboLister to add insurance anymore either. Really though, little has changed since now users have to pay with Paypal they are always protected by Paypal Buyer Protection. Broken, lost, etc, the buyer will get their money back no matter how hard the seller fights it. Even when offering insurance was allowed, this was the case but doing so gave the illusion insurance was for the buyer when it's actually for the seller. Despite what you say in your auction a seller is responsible for the item until the buyer has it in hand.

[fogger1138]

Huh - seems like it's been a long time since I listed anything, then. Thanks!

[KushViper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StormShadow73

Hey Tankers this is the email I sent to the buyer. I think I handled it correctly given the circumstances:

I tried to contact you at the phone number you have registered w/eBay, but when I called the number it said it is no longer in service. I am the owner of Ocean State Collectibles. I am aware of the email my assistant sent to you in reply to your original email. I ran you email by some of my on line colleagues, and they agree that your email comes off like you are trying to put one over on me. That being said, I packaged the item myself so I know for a fact it was not “packaged poorly” as you claim. I surrounded the item in bubble wrap, but due to the size it had to be packaged in an awkward position. You had the option to purchase insurance bit you chose not to. Our auction clearly stated we are not responsible for items once they ship out, that is why we strongly advise purchasing insurance, which is available on all of our auctions. Bottom line is there are 2 ways we can resolve this:

1)If you want a refund, you must return the item back to us IN THE SAME CONDITION THAT WE SENT IT TO YOU. THE SAME CONDITION THAT IT IS IN THE PICTURE ON THE AUCTION. You will have to pay for the shipping back to us. Also you will need to take a picture of both the item and the box it came in and email us the pictures at [email protected]. Once you have done this a refund will be issued provided you have met these requirements. The other option is:

2)Although we know what condition this item was in when we shipped it, we pride ourselves on customer service. To make up for your aggravation, instead of going through the refund process, we would like to ship you a brand new GI Joe The Rise of Cobra action figure. Right now we have 2 different figures in stock, both new on sealed card. We have City Strike Snake Eyes & Arctic Threat Storm Shadow. We will gladly ship either one of these to you for free, and we will also pick up the shipping out to you as well. On top of this you get to keep the RHINO item. If this option is acceptable to you rather than receiving a refund, please let us know by responding to this email letting us know which figure you would like w/your complete address and contact phone number. We will email you back with the delivery confirmation number of your figure. Please let us know which route you would like to take as soon as you can. Thank you.

Raymond Carr
Ocean State Collectibles

Wow! There are several problems with this letter you sent your customer. I would not have said "I ran you email by some of my on line colleagues, and they agree that your email comes off like you are trying to put one over on me. " This is very insulting and completely unnecessary. If you "pride yourself on customer service" you would carefully choose your words in a situation like this. I would also use your spell check before you email a customer so you come across as having your shit together. I also think ebay could take issue with you using your gmail account as well. They seem to want everything to go through them.

That being said I think it was generous of you to offer a new figure but the buyer didn't want a CS SE, they wanted whatever they bought from you. Can you imagine going to the grocery store with some rotten milk they sold you and the manager tells you that he thinks you are trying to rip him off and instead of more milk he'll give you a free pound of flour? That would be messed up even of you were trying to rip them off. Regardless of what happens, the customer is always right. IMPO!!!!!

[StormShadow73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KushViper

Wow! There are several problems with this letter you sent your customer. I would not have said "I ran you email by some of my on line colleagues, and they agree that your email comes off like you are trying to put one over on me. " This is very insulting and completely unnecessary. If you "pride yourself on customer service" you would carefully choose your words in a situation like this. I would also use your spell check before you email a customer so you come across as having your shit together. I also think ebay could take issue with you using your gmail account as well. They seem to want everything to go through them.

That being said I think it was generous of you to offer a new figure but the buyer didn't want a CS SE, they wanted whatever they bought from you. Can you imagine going to the grocery store with some rotten milk they sold you and the manager tells you that he thinks you are trying to rip him off and instead of more milk he'll give you a free pound of flour? That would be messed up even of you were trying to rip them off. Regardless of what happens, the customer is always right. IMPO!!!!!

Well seeing the first email from this customer was demanding a refund and that's it, I had every right to defend myself and say what I said. Also, i am not a thief, and what was in the picture in the auction is what was shipped in that very condition. The buyer is trying to rip me off. So now i'll lose my $36.00, get the item back in definitely not the same condition I sold it to them in, hence I will not be able to resell it. This person attacked my character by accussing me of selling this item not in the condition it was listed as. I have 100% feedback for a reason. So while you took offense to a couple of things I stated in my email, I took great offense of this person accussing me of lying and selling an item that was different than what was described in the auction.

[Lody]

I think your letter was poorly written. This is just my opinion though. Regardless of whether or not they "insulted" you or tried to insinuate something, good customer service is putting on a syrupy sweet smile and trying to fix the problem. This is tough for some people. Not saying this is the case here per se, just my opinion.

The problem with the insurance is that you cannot make it optional. You either include it or you don't. If shipping is $10 and insurance is $2, then you send an invoice for $12. You can't "give" them the option of paying the insurance.

Ebay also clearly states that you cannot say things like I am not responsible for lost or damaged item" or "Once the package leaves me, I have no control over it"

Selling practices policy
Refer to Terms and Conditions & Shipping and Handling charges

"I surrounded the item in bubble wrap, but due to the size it had to be packaged in an awkward position"

I think you nailed yourself right there. The box needs to be large enough to accomodate the item and not cause damage.

Again, I am by no means trying to give you a hard time. Just help ya out.

[NC Joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fogger1138

When did this change? Insurance could be made an optional part of shipping for YEARS on eBay.

Yep, they changed it. And the that sucks about it is this: if you want to include insurance you have to add it to the initial shipping cost. And in some catergories (i.e. DVD's) you're limited to how much you can charge for shipping. So in some instances if a seller wanted to include insurance in the shipping amt. they would actually be prohibited from doing that, or just have to pay for it out of their pocket.

[NC Joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KushViper

I would not have said "I ran you email by some of my on line colleagues, and they agree that your email comes off like you are trying to put one over on me. "

I have to agree with this. I stated earlier that I believe that he's trying to pull one over on you and I still do, but he could also be clueless as how to handle this situation appropriately.

I hate to say this, but he kinda has the upper-hand here. The paypal claims process favors buyers more than it does sellers and now that you've accused him of lying to you (even though he probably is) he has every reason to leave you negative feedback and hit you with low DSR's.

If he's the lying snake that he seems to be, he won't have any qualms about trashing your perfect feedback and getting a refund and keeping the RHINO.

[CTGLinks]

What is funny about this is that the post office who ACTUALLY is responsible for the package is not held responsible at all. It's BS honestly.

I think that if ebay wants sellers to "insure" each package they should teach the buyers that the average shipping price will be going up to provide for that insurance, and that first class mail would no longer be an option since you can only insure priority mail....but then buyers would bitch because postage would be too high.

It's a lose lose situation for sellers an something needs to be done about it. I could care less if it states it in ebay or paypal policies...anyone who actually investigates both sides of the story will agree it's all BS and needs to be fixed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboticplanet

Not allowing optional insurance in auctions changed in 2009 (eBay Seller Update: July 2009), but Paypal's buyer protection has always been in place, insuring any purchase regardless of added postal carrier insurance.

eBay disallowed offering optional insurance to make this more clear. You won't find the field in the auction wizard nor TurboLister to add insurance anymore either. Really though, little has changed since now users have to pay with Paypal they are always protected by Paypal Buyer Protection. Broken, lost, etc, the buyer will get their money back no matter how hard the seller fights it. Even when offering insurance was allowed, this was the case but doing so gave the illusion insurance was for the buyer when it's actually for the seller. Despite what you say in your auction a seller is responsible for the item until the buyer has it in hand.

[NC Joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTGLinks

It's a lose lose situation for sellers an something needs to be done about it. I could care less if it states it in ebay or paypal policies...anyone who actually investigates both sides of the story will agree it's all BS and needs to be fixed.

I agree with you on that. I'll insure stuff for free if it closes above a certain price, but when something only sells for a few bucks then insuring it is pointless since I basically end up breaking even.

Ya know, there most be a darn lot of bad sellers that we don't know anything about on ebay for them to re-work their whole system like they have. It's like they're trying to turn ebay into the world's largest online mall when it used to be the world's largest online flea market.

P.S. i know I'm probably not supposed to say this here, but CTG I sent you a PM a few days back about trading some stuff, just wanting to know if you got it and if you're interested.